B5 Reboot?? Is it true??!!?! - Page 11

LateArrival · February 5th 22, 19:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kraig

The more interesting quote from the article you mention: "The streaming offerings are tiny compared to competition from giants like Netflix and Disney Plus — but it’s more than Nexstar has now, and could be utilized in an entirely new way as HBO Max and Paramount Plus have plans to take their future CW programming for their own platforms."

Assuming Nexstar gobbles up the CW, would they use that purchase to build a little broadcast/cable/streaming empire of their own, and should they find themselves looking for home-grown IP to draw in new viewers, might they "shift the CW programming target" and take a chance on a B5 reboot?

To borrow from Walkabout, there are a number of conditional phrases in the above sentence.

Looney · February 5th 22, 21:10

Honestly as I read it if Nexstar acquires CW you can go ahead and forget a B5 reboot on CW, unless by some miracle one of their Execs is a big fan.

Ubik · February 6th 22, 10:48

My own take, I honesty don't think the reboot is going to happen. I'd even put money on it.

If the CW were genuinely excited by it, it would be in the running this year. Pickup is probably even less likely if CW gets sold. Who is to say Mark Pedowitz will still be in post if a sale of CW goes through.

However, if Nexstar Media Group bite and focus on the cable market (already their bread and butter), I feel like a lot of this stuff is doomed to failure if the move is away from streaming platforms. Hard to say if they will retain the relationship with Netflix, one would hope they will.

Not getting picked up may be a saving grace, because the new administration under Nexstar might have just axed it after one season due to a reshuffle. That would have potentially been even more painful than nothing at all.

I really wish HBO MAX had an interest, it would sit so much better with them.

Recoil · February 7th 22, 22:15

Yea, the CW may not have been able to pull the trigger, even in spite of the high-level executive being a fan, due to the pending acquisition and exiting commitments.

And the current CW high-level executives excitement over the new B5 Reboot likely won't mean a thing, because odds are he will be gone after the merger. The question becomes: Will B5 even be on the radar of the new company and a remote priority?

I agree with a few others. I think the CW sale pretty much sank this, unfortunately. But hey! We still have the original.

hypatia · February 8th 22, 03:15

Yes, it’s just a shame, a remake could have been fun.

AntonyF · February 8th 22, 12:54

I don't know JMS personally but I get a sense of déjà vu, for example when Legend of the Rangers wasn't picked up. He has a very positive spin on things which I admire but wonder if it's misplaced. With Legend of the Rangers it was oh the network loves it and it was just the NFL was the issue, and when it wasn't airing against NFL etc. it did well on the west coast.

But then the cold hard economics kick in!

I would have also thought (although I'm not quite up on my spider web of owners) that Warner being involved in both the original and CW would have helped on licensing, which may not be apparent if it's sold.

I still think any revival would be better off on a streaming platform. It allows for niche audiences. It allows for long-form storytelling. And the streaming companies are desperate for content and franchises. I mean just look at how Paramount has taken the corpse of Star Trek and are repeatedly defiling it - there's other networks that want their franchise to exploit. (Okay don't exploit B5 please...)

Springer · February 8th 22, 17:50

The one thing that the reboot still has in its favour is that currently everything seems to be getting a reboot, everything from Quantum Leap to Sex and the City, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Magnum, Battlestar Galactica, on and on. Utilising established IP seems to be the 'in' thing at the moment, and Warners might still want to use their established IP even in The CW don't want it, and there's plenty of streaming avenues that are hungry for programming. Perhaps those avenues are now being explored as a failsafe in case it does go south with The CW.

Jan · February 11th 22, 22:01

From JMS' Patreon page, with permission:
----
J. Michael Straczynski
Feel free to quote this anyplace the “oh, the show is dead” nonsense sprouts up.

Whenever there’s news in the TV/film business – good, bad or indifferent – there are always those who, for their own pleasure, throw dust in the faces of fans in the hope of eliciting tears. The history of B5 is rife with them. Every season they would cite sources who said the show was definitely not going to be renewed, only to be proven wrong, which never stopped them from doing the same exact thing the next season, and the next, to try and upset people.

These stories are then repeated through ignorance, arrogance, spitefulness, foolishness, clickbaitery, or the desire to appear tuned-in to an industry which they were never a part of in the first place, or to which they are no longer relevant. (Or any combination thereof.) So let me put the lie to this latest one in terms that are clear, verifiable, and unambiguous.

1) Every year, dozens and dozens of network pilots are picked up for production, or turned down. Telling those on either side of that equation where they’ve landed is not considered a big deal, it’s part of the everyday process of making TV. If the B5 pilot were dead, the network would not hesitate to say so because they’d have no reason to do so. They gain nothing by obscuring the truth. But the president of the CW network called personally (followed by a second call from his top executives) to say that they loved the script, that it was most emphatically not dead, and that they were going to roll the script into their development slate for 2023. And in the days since those calls there have been more discussions with the network and studio about how best to ensure B5’s future.

2) In the nearly 35 years that I’ve been online, and the nearly 30 years of B5 history, I have never once prevaricated or soft-pedaled the facts related to any aspect of Babylon 5. The one and only time I withheld information was in regard to Michael O’Hare’s struggle with mental illness because it wasn’t my story to tell at that time, and while he was still with us it was none of anybody else’s goddamn business. In every other instance, I have been blunt and honest and straightforward with the fans through good times and bad. Don’t take my word for it, ask those who’ve been around for those 30 years. There is nothing to be gained by saying the show’s still in development if it isn’t, and much to lose, since doing so would agitate both the network and the studio and I would hear from legal affairs within an hour of making such a statement.

3) When in doubt, always go with enlightened self-interest. In the event the pilot were not to be picked up, my contract gives me the legal right to immediately turn around and shop the pilot script elsewhere. If the CW had simply said we’re not doing it, end of conversation, I would be shouting from the metaphorical rooftops and knocking on every literal door to take it elsewhere, and the fans would know about it because their help in making that effort visible would be essential to the process. (And there are several networks who are very much aware of B5 and the fan base and how well it’s done on HBO Max who would be extremely interested in that prospect.) Saying that I and the pilot are sticking with the CW precludes the script from being taken elsewhere, so you can be damned sure I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true.

It’s unfortunate that after all these years I still have to come online to do this sort of thing, but I suppose that, too, is just a part of the process.

Onward.
-----

Recoil · February 14th 22, 20:45

I think a lot of his quote is all well and good, but I think the concern stems from the fate of The CW. Once they get bought....all bets are off. So while it's true the pilot isn't dead right now, and JMS is sticking with The CW, in the end that may not matter and he may need to look elsewhere after all.

Time will tell.

KoshFan · February 15th 22, 05:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Springer

The one thing that the reboot still has in its favour is that currently everything seems to be getting a reboot, everything from Quantum Leap to Sex and the City, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Magnum, Battlestar Galactica, on and on. Utilising established IP seems to be the 'in' thing at the moment...

Because they like nice safe guaranteed returns. Established franchises are much more likely to produce that than new ones.

That can be taken comfortingly ("B5 has a passionate fan base!") or cynically ("The studios aren't interested in anything surprising... and B5 has always been surprising...")

If you really want hope, though, latch on to JMS's comment about his contract. If the CW sale sinks this, he'll just start over. Disappointing, yes. Delaying, certainly. But not dooming.